Kramer, Vikings Sail Toward Uncharted Land: The Playoffs

November 27, 1986|By Jerry Greene of The Sentinel Staff

Tommy Kramer tried to throw three passes before last Sunday's game and discovered he couldn't feel the ball in his hand. He didn't play, and the Minnesota Vikings lost. The Vikings without Kramer are more than a ship without a sail. They are a ship without a sea on which to sail.

This Sunday the Vikings (6-6) play host to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-10). For most teams it would seem reasonable to keep an ailing, 31-year- old quarterback on the bench and assume you can beat the Bucs without him. But the Vikings don't feel that way.

''If Tommy's ready, he's playing,'' Vikings Coach Jerry Burns said. ''We're not strong enough to be a contending team when our top people are on the sidelines.''

And this is the crux of the Vikings' situation: They believe they are a contending team with Kramer -- and don't know what they are without him.

It hasn't always been true. In fact the Vikings haven't really been a contending team since Kramer became their starting quarterback in 1979. In that time they never have been better than 9-7.

The lack of success hasn't been Kramer's fault, however. Much as Archie Manning wasted his talent for a decade in New Orleans, Kramer has watched other quarterbacks in other places get the glory while he got the beatings and tried to compensate for an otherwise inadequate team.

Consider:

-- Kramer never has been protected by a lineman who made the Pro Bowl.

-- Kramer never has been aided by a running back who made the Pro Bowl.

-- And Kramer has thrown to just one Pro Bowl receiver, Ahmad Rashad, who left the team for a spot in the broadcasting booth in 1982.

This year is different. This year it is Kramer who may be going to the Pro Bowl and possibly the playoffs as long as he's healthy enough to get there. This year Kramer has help.

This is the year that the Vikings are repaying Kramer by providing him with blocking, running and receiving -- along with a defense that is giving up just fewer than 18 points a game.

Throw in a beloved head coach and a new offensive coordinator who believes in throwing often and throwing deep. The result is a contending team -- as long as Kramer is on the field.

''I'm a lot more optimistic now than I was last week,'' Kramer said about facing the Bucs and their last-place defense. ''The tip of my thumb still is swollen, but I can hold the ball.''

Kramer sprained the thumb on his throwing hand by smashing it into the helmet of Lawrence Taylor two weeks ago in a 22-20 loss to the Giants. Last Sunday, without Kramer, the Vikings lost to Cincinnati by a nearly identical score, 24-20.

Even with Kramer, however, the Vikings are on the brink of playoff extinction. A curious inability to win ''split decisions'' has dropped them from an exciting, 5-2 start to their current 6-6. They have lost four of their last five games, but all four defeats were by fewer than seven points.

''A 10-6 season is pretty respectable,'' tight end Steve Jordan said. ''But in light of our earlier visions, it would be a big letdown if we didn't make the playoffs.''

The earlier visions were created by Kramer. He is the only star quarterback in the National Football Conference who has been alive and well for most of the season. And he leads his conference with a 95.6 rating, based on his completing 57.5 percent of his passes for 2,800 yards, with 22 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

That's a far Viking cry from 1985, when Kramer had his career-low rating of 67.8, was ranked 21st in the league and led the league in interceptions (26). Still, the Vikings were seventh in the league in passing -- a hidden indicator of the season to come.

What happened?

''It's simple'' Burns said. ''He's developed into a great quarterback because for the first time in the last four or five years he has an offensive line that has stability, experience and maturity.

''In addition he has a legitimate deep threat in Anthony Carter, and I've always felt that Steve Jordan is as good a tight end as there is in the league.''

The big difference in the line is Gary Zimmerman, acquired from the Giants. A graduate of the USFL's ill-fated but highly talented Los Angeles Express, Zimmerman is a natural pass blocker and is filling a void at left tackle.

Carter, another prize from the USFL grab bag acquired through a trade with Miami, only has to stay healthy to be an All-Pro.

And running back Darrin Nelson finally has developed into a solid rusher and receiver.

Ironically, another major change is the hiring of a new offensive coordinator, Bob Schnelker. The irony is that the former offensive coordinator now is the head coach, Burns.

''The big thing about Schnelker is that he likes to throw the ball downfield more than Jerry did,'' Kramer said. ''And when you are getting the time to throw the football, that can be very productive.''

It was productive enough to beat San Francisco and Chicago in back-to- back performances this year, productive enough for Kramer to throw six touchdown passes in three quarters against Green Bay this year.

And let's not forget Burns, known as ''Burnsie'' by his players and staff. At 59, he is the second-oldest head coach in the NFL -- and a rookie, too.

But when discussing change among the Vikings, the conversation must return to Kramer -- and the change in his personality, too. The heavy rumors of an even heavier drinking problem are gone, replaced by a wife, baby daughter and his own sense of maturity and security.

''Having a wife and baby has changed my lifestyle quite a bit,'' Kramer said. ''But the quarterback is the focal point of the offense, so people will always say things.''

The difference is in what they're saying now.

''Tommy still is not as good as he probably will be in another three years,'' running back Ted Brown said. ''And that's a scary thought.''

A scary thought for the rest of the league. But for the Vikings it's a calm sea and a full wind in their sails.